Black Lives Matter Statement of Solidarity

The First-Year Writing Program in the Department of Rhetoric and Writing stands in solidarity with our Black American community, and any marginalized group, seeking social justice reform. As a program, we are dedicated to making sure our instructors and students have the resources they need for success within the classroom environment. Creating a more inclusive and equitable environment is one of our many goals. Likewise, inherent in our program’s value system and the scholarship of our discipline is a deep passion to remove the tenacious grip of systemic, institutionalized racism that continues to ravage the lives of so many within our country.

As a program, we know there is work to do, and we, as educators, have a significant role to play. To that end, we would like to offer the following resources. As you think about your students and make preparations to teach this fall, consider creating time and space for discussions, assigning readings by marginalized writers, and developing writing tasks that help move the needle.